painting plastic
- Thread starter whatryan
- Start date
Hi, and that's a tricky one. I have used some PPG products and plastic primers, sometimes it grabs, other times I have had difficulties depending on the temperatures. Check with a paint shop dealer for the best answers.
clean parts with methanol hydrate.
scuff with fine sand paper.
apply plastic primer.
apply paint.
you will still get stress lines where it flexes.
scuff with fine sand paper.
apply plastic primer.
apply paint.
you will still get stress lines where it flexes.
S
SNAFU
Member
The first time I tried painting plastic I just used Krlyon Fusion paint for plastic. It looked good but it did not match the color I was looking for and it only held up for about 1/2 a season then it started chipping off. Go to an autobody paint supply store. I got some good advice and everything seems to working great for me now.
Clean plastic with rubbing alcohol. I first used a more industrial adhesive and wax remover that contained Ketone and I think it actually started to melt the plastic.
Sand existing paint with 400 grit paper.
Clean with rubbing alcohol.
Apply a flex fill primer. You can buy good primer in a spray can. Apply 2-3 coats with the first just a light coat.
Let primer dry 24 hrs and wet sand very lightly with 400 grit. Make sure the surface looks good at this point because the paint won't hide anything.
If you have a particular color in mind, the autobody paint store will be able to match it and put the paint into a spray can for you. Get 2 cans and ask for the mix formula in case you need more later. I think that most of the paints are urethane based and do not require a flex additive. My paint has not cracked over two years.
Add three light coats of color with about 15 minutes between each coat. Do not sand color coats.
1 hour after applying the final color coat, I then added 3 coats of clear.
Others may have different opinions on this but it seems to do the job and is holding up no different than the original paint. But like I mentioned earlier, go to an autobody paint store and get them to recommend a system.
Clean plastic with rubbing alcohol. I first used a more industrial adhesive and wax remover that contained Ketone and I think it actually started to melt the plastic.
Sand existing paint with 400 grit paper.
Clean with rubbing alcohol.
Apply a flex fill primer. You can buy good primer in a spray can. Apply 2-3 coats with the first just a light coat.
Let primer dry 24 hrs and wet sand very lightly with 400 grit. Make sure the surface looks good at this point because the paint won't hide anything.
If you have a particular color in mind, the autobody paint store will be able to match it and put the paint into a spray can for you. Get 2 cans and ask for the mix formula in case you need more later. I think that most of the paints are urethane based and do not require a flex additive. My paint has not cracked over two years.
Add three light coats of color with about 15 minutes between each coat. Do not sand color coats.
1 hour after applying the final color coat, I then added 3 coats of clear.
Others may have different opinions on this but it seems to do the job and is holding up no different than the original paint. But like I mentioned earlier, go to an autobody paint store and get them to recommend a system.
video tutorials
Hi again, here are a couple videos I did to document a process I tried.
Everything worked well. The hood however I painted with flat black. It was great until the summer heat in the sun expanded the hell out of it, specially being black.
If I had of used a lighter color, or kept it out of the blazing sun, it would have survived.
The plastic trim is still perfect, but the hood being a large surface was recovered with spray paint from Home Depot at $4.00/ can and is still holding up.
I guess you can make your own call based on some of the info coming into this thread .)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43avwSCr3cs&eurl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR87w6p_7KU&eurl
Hi again, here are a couple videos I did to document a process I tried.
Everything worked well. The hood however I painted with flat black. It was great until the summer heat in the sun expanded the hell out of it, specially being black.
If I had of used a lighter color, or kept it out of the blazing sun, it would have survived.
The plastic trim is still perfect, but the hood being a large surface was recovered with spray paint from Home Depot at $4.00/ can and is still holding up.
I guess you can make your own call based on some of the info coming into this thread .)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43avwSCr3cs&eurl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR87w6p_7KU&eurl
The first thing you need to determine is if the panels color come from existing paint or if they are the color of the plastic. If it is existing paint, then you should be able to scuff and paint. By scuff, I mean use a very abrasive scotch brite. If it is just plastic and no paint, then you will need to sand with 220 to 320 grit depending on what kind of surface texture the panel has and what you want left. If it is textured and you want to leave it there then go with the 320 grit. If you want no texture, then you would want to go with the 220 grit. A paint supply store should carry an adhesion promoter, the stuff I use is made by Dupont and is called PlaStick. What ever paint that you apply will require a Flex additive or it will show 'stress' cracks. The paint supply store should be able to tell you have much you will need to add to your paint by how much flex the panel will give. I hope this helps.
T
Tookes
Active member
Do you have any pictures of the final product? Thanks
Let me know when you start working on it I want to check it out.
Why not buy new black from Yami? I did for the whole sled and it was under $300 for the whole sled other than bottom plastic. I started with a FX so the bottom front was already black. Just a thought. The black is from a 08 GT. Good luck either way
